Battling depression, financial constraints & the agony of separation, Shelly Khan details her journey as a breast cancer survivor for 27 years

Shelly Khan has been a breast cancer survivor for the past 27 years.
In 1997, the 57-year-old Shelly, at the time a mother of one, had felt an unusual lump in her breast, and had decided to visit her local physician. The doctor recommended that she visit the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) to have the lump examined; and she made the trip and was informed that she needed to have a biopsy performed on her breast. When the results were returned, Shelly said, it felt like “the world came crashing down”.
Shelly had known nothing about breast cancer, nor did she know anyone who had experienced anything similar, thus she felt all alone in this world. Nevertheless, she followed the advice of her doctors and did a round of chemotherapy before undergoing surgery to have a unilateral mastectomy, the removal of one breast. Thereafter, she needed to do two more rounds of chemotherapy, but could afford only one. After the chemotherapy treatment, she had to stick to a rigid schedule of doctor checkups.

After seven years of being a part of the clinic, Shelly was officially declared cancer-free. Nevertheless, she continues to get checked up regularly, noting that early detection is truly the key to saving lives.
During her journey, Shelly said, her marriage was severely impacted. Though she gave birth to her second child from the union, she and her husband eventually separated. “He would say he doesn’t want a woman with one bobby; you know, all kinds of stuff,” Shelly explained.
Although support was forthcoming from other family members, Shelly was battling severe depression. “I was so depressed (that) sometimes I used to even think about suicide,” she recalled.
The battle also took a toll on her financially. “I had a little savings, but, you know, when you going through cancer, you got to dip into everything,” She explained. However, she said, her faith in God helped her through her toughest times. “I used to call on God a lot,” she noted.
It wasn’t until Shelly had met other women who had gone through similar experiences that she slowly began to feel like herself again. After scrolling through Facebook, Shelly came across Bibi Hassan, President of the Guyana Cancer Foundation.
“I commented under her post. At that time, I was about 15/16 years a survivor, and she messaged me and said she would like to have me on board,” Shelly disclosed.
Shelly said that being around such a group of strong, passionate women changed her life. “That motivated me!” she noted. “It gives you courage that you’re around people like yourself.” In fact, Shelly expressed that sometimes “it’s not the cancer that kills you, it’s the support that you don’t get from your loved ones that depresses you.”
As a breast cancer survivor, Shelly is urging other women to take their health seriously. “Early detection saved my life, and it would do the same for anyone. Don’t take a lump for granted,” Shelly advises.
The Ministry of Health said last year that it had diagnosed 161 persons with breast cancer. This accounted for 17 per cent of all cancers diagnosed that year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer caused 670,000 deaths globally in 2022. In 2022, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Approximately 99 per cent of breast cancers occur in women and 0.5–1 per cent of breast cancers occur in men.
The WHO notes that certain factors increase the risk of breast cancer, including increasing age, obesity, harmful use of alcohol, family history of breast cancer, history of radiation exposure, reproductive history (such as age that menstrual periods began and age at first pregnancy), tobacco use, and postmenopausal hormone therapy.
Approximately half of all breast cancer cases develop in women who have no identifiable breast cancer risk factor other than gender (female) and age (over 40 years). Most people will not experience any symptoms when the cancer is still in its early stage, hence the importance of early detection.
Breast cancer can have combinations of symptoms, especially when it is more advanced. Symptoms of breast cancer can include: a breast lump or thickening, often without pain, change in size, shape or appearance of the breast; dimpling, redness, pitting or other changes in the skin; change in nipple appearance or the skin surrounding the nipple (areola); and/or abnormal or bloody fluid emanating from the nipple.
In a global effort to raise awareness of breast cancer, October has been designated as Pink Month. Pink Month is a month wherein efforts are made to educate those concerned about the disease, including early identification and signs and symptoms associated with breast cancer.